Gotham Arts Exchange Presents 2nd Annual FOCUS DANCE, Now thru 1/13

FOCUS DANCE is a part of FOCUS 2013, the National Platform to promote American dance both abroad and nationally. The week-long platform presents performances of U.S.-based dance companies during the annual Arts Presenters Conference in New York City, and one of the largest gatherings of artists, dancers and dance professionals in the U.S. From tonight, January 8-14, 2013, four venues partner with Gotham Arts Exchange to present the artistic visions of five curators gathered to shape this year's edition:

This year's curator for FOCUS DANCE, Jodee Nimerichter of the American Dance Festival has assembled four programs featuring some of the most captivating companies performing today. FOCUS DANCE is comprised of four programs featuring eight U.S.-based choreographers/companies: Jodi Melnick, Stephen Petronio Company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Rosie Hererra Dance Theater, Doug Varone & Dancers, Eiko & Koma, and John Jasperse. FOCUS DANCE will run from tonight, January 8-13, 2013 at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC. Tickets are $10-$39 and are available at 212-242-0800 or www.joyce.org.

Program A - Tuesday, January 8 at 7:30pm; Sunday, January 13 at 2pm
Jodi Melnick - Solo, Deluxe Version
Stephen Petronio Company - excerpts from The Architecture of Loss and Underland

Program B - Wednesday, January 9 at 7:30pm; Sunday, January 13 at 7:30pm
Camille A. Brown & Dancers - Tol E. Rance; Been There, Done That; and City of Rain
Brian Brooks Moving Company - I'm Going to Explode, DESCENT, and FALL FALLS

Program C- Thursday, January 10 at 8pm; Saturday, January 12 at 8pm
Rosie Hererra Dance Theater - Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret
Doug Varone and Dancers - -to-be-announced

Program D - Friday, January 11 at 8pm; Saturday, January 12 at 2pm
Eiko & Koma - White Dance and Flower Dance
John Jasperse - Fort Blossom Revisited 2000-2012

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jodi Melnick is a NYC based choreographer, dancer, and teacher. She graduated from S.U.N.Y Purchase with a BFA in Dance. Melnick is the recipient of the Jerome Robbins New Essential Works Grant (2010-2011); a Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 2011 Award; and has been honored with two Bessie Awards for sustained achievement in dance (2001 and 2008). Her work has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, La Mama, and commissioned for OtherShore Dance Company, and Barnard College. Additional commissions include: Dance Box, Kansai, Japan, Rex Levitates, Dublin, Ireland, Jenny Roche, for the Dublin Dance Festival, Maiden Voyage Productions, Belfast, throughout Russia, Estonia, for George Washington University, Bates College, and Monmouth College. Melnick danced with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company (1990-1994), and again in 2009. She continues to perform with choreographers: Sara Rudner, Susan Rethorst, John Jasperse (creating 'Becky, Jodi, and John'), Jonathon Kinzel, Vicky Shick, and Liz Roche. In 2005, she revisited working with Donna Uchizono, creating and performing in a trio with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Melnick performed as a guest artist with the Trisha Brown Dance Company and since 2002 has been an assistant director to Ms. Brown - creating and restaging two operas. She has collaborated with artist Burt Barr (Fanfare, 2009) and performed in the video/film works of Barr, and Charles Atlas. As a teacher, Melnick has taught master classes and workshops throughout the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Currently, she teaches at Barnard College in NYC, as a guest teacher at The Trevor Day School and at NYU.

STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY was founded in 1984, and has performed in 26 countries throughout the world, including over 35 New York City engagements with 15 seasons at The Joyce Theater. The company has been commissioned by Dance Umbrella Festival/London, Hebbel Theater/Berlin, Theater Scene National de Sceaux/France, Festival d'Automne a Paris, CNDC Angers/France, The Holland Festival, Festival International Montpellier-Danse, Danceworks UK Ltd, International Cannes Danse Festival, and in the US by San Francisco Performances, The Joyce Theater, UCSB Arts & Lectures, Wexner Center for the Arts, Walker Art Center, and White Bird, among others. Over the past year The company performed at the Barbican Centre in London, England; the Milano Oltre Festival in Milan, Italy; Pittsburgh, PA, San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles ,CA; Albuquerque, NM; and Reno, NV. www.stephenpetronio.com

CAMILLE A. Brown & DANCERS are known for high theatricality, gutsy moves and musicality. Making a personal claim on history through the lens of a modern female perspective, Camille A. Brown leads her dancers through dazzling excavations of ancestral stories, both timeless and traditional, as well as immediate contemporary issues. The company's repertory explores real life situations ranging from literal to more complex themes with an eye on the past and present. The work is character based, expressing topics by building from little moments, and modeling a filmic sensibility. Theater, poetry, visual art and music, all merge to inject each performance with energy. Camille A. Brown & Dancers seek to connect with people, entertain, provoke, engage, and inspire. Let's begin. www.camilleabrown.org

Brian Brooks MOVING COMPANY Brian Brooks (Artistic Director and Choreographer) has been living and working in New York City since 1994. His interest in choreography emerged at a young age while growing up in Hingham, MA. At eighteen, he attended the American Dance Festival, where he was exposed to the scope of contemporary dance with guidance from dean and mentor Martha Myers. He continued to refine his technique while studying in Boston with James Viera, Diane Arvanites and Adrienne Hawkins and in New York with Jaclyn Vilamil and Risa Steinberg. As a dancer, he has performed in the work of Christopher Williams, Eun-Me Ahn, Sean Curran, Carolyn Dorfman, Neta Pulvermacher, and Hilary Easton, among others. He dedicated three years to performing with daredevil choreographer Elizabeth Streb, allowing him to profoundly test the limits of the body and its positioning in space. The Brian Brooks Moving Company, the main vehicle for his choreography, has been presented by world-renowned venues throughout New York, the US, South Korea, and Europe. www.brianbrooksmovingcompany.com